In the case of a picker line as is used for the transposition of individual products into containers which can accommodate a given number of individual products, the procedure involved hitherto was such that the containers were delivered on a first container conveyor belt and generally accumulated thereon, transferred from the first container conveyor belt onto a second container conveyor belt on which the respective containers were filled with the appropriate number of individual products, and then, after complete filling of each container, the containers were in turn transposed onto a third container conveyor belt for the filled containers to be transported away.
Reference may be made in this respect to DE 42 08 818 C2 which provides for the use of a picker line in which the pickers are not disposed at fixed positions in relation to the product conveyor belt and the container conveyor belt, but are limitedly movable in the direction of travel thereof. In that case however either the product conveyor belt which supplies the individual products is temporarily stopped, which causes difficulties in terms of coupling to a continuously operating machine for producing individual products, or the container conveyor belt is stopped when the container which is not yet completely filled threatens to leave the working region of the picker or pickers.